Bauchi State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), says it has taken proactive measures to check anticipated flood disaster in 2015.
Alhaji Inuwa Bello, spokesman of the agency, made this known on Sunday in Bauchi while fielding questions from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Bello, who is also the chairman, State Humanitarian Coordinators on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), disclosed that the agency sponsored jingles and advertisements to sensitize members of the public to take precautionary measures.
He stated that because of the experience of 2012 flood disaster in Bauchi State, efforts were made every year to remind people to be on alert.
“We have already developed our Action Plan and strategies; we have started hitting the media with campaign, advising people to empty their gutters, desist from erecting structures on water-ways, and the like.
“ We are equally paying advocacy visits to some stakeholders at local government and community levels, to tell them what they should be doing in case of any incident,” Bello said.
He said that the agency had also embarked on educating farmers in the state on the varieties of crops to plant, as well as the time to plant this year, following prediction by NIMET that the country would experience limited rainfall.
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Bello described the anticipated limited rainfall as “worrisome,” especially that it would affect food production, which may result in food security.
He also expressed dismay over the attitude of some people who were reluctant to heed to advice, on the grounds that those making the predictions were not “God.”
The spokesman said that the agency had met with the representatives of people living in flood-prone areas in the state, and had educated them on the implications of living in such areas.(NAN)
